USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Wiscasset > Wiscasset in Pownalborough; a history of the shire town and the salient historical features of the territory between the Sheepscot and Kennebec rivers > Part 2
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There appears to be plenty of good stone for docks along the banks of the river.
In the course from General Wood's Wharf to the Narrows, there are 14 feet of water at low tide on a Middle ground of soft mud : between this middle ground and the General's wharf 149 feet: and between the middle ground and Folly Point, 36 feet, 6 inches; there is the same depth of water continued to within about 200 feet of the point. The width of the river at this point is about one mile.
Trask's Cove is fine for ships to lie in. This cove seems to form the head of the river coming up; at this place it makes a short turn to the N. W. into the harbor before the town; in this turn is what they call the Narrows, which is supposed to be one-half a mile wide. A fort erected on Decker's Point, one on Folly Point, and one on the shore eastward of Decker's Point, will effectually prevent any ship from entering the inner harbor.
The course of the river is generally N by E and S by W, and about half a mile wide
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
from Fowles' Point to Decker's Point. Harrington's Cove, which is about two miles below the Narrows, is convenient for ships to ride in, being generally from 5 to II fathoms at high water.
The shore is generally very bold on the west side of the river; the distance from the shore is about the depth out to 7 fathoms. Vessels may pass this shore in some places where their yards will touch the rocks and trees; in one place there are 8 fathoms of water in not more than 20 feet from the shore.
At a place called Doggett's Castle, there is a parcel of rocks which are nearly per- pendicular from 40 to 50 feet, and the top of those a little further back, must be upwards of 100 feet above high water; there are 10 fathoms within 50 feet of the rocks. A ship of the line may lie along side of those rocks and moor as if along-side of a pier.
Rum Cove, which is about a mile below Harrington's Cove, has from 4 to 8 fathoms at high water. Parsons' and Jewett's Coves which are in sight of the sea, and about 15 miles above Seguin lighthouse, are both good harbors. Cross River mouth is just at Par- sons' Cove, on the east side of the river; in this river I am informed, you may carry up 5 fathoms at low water for nearly three miles, where vessels may ride in perfect safety if they conceive the before mentioned coves are not sufficient.
From Fowles' Point to Cross Point, about three-quarters of a mile. Forts erected on these points, which are rather distant from each other, yet they can rake a ship for a con- siderable distance, and they must come right on. If Cross Point should be thought suf- ficiently close, there is another site for a fortification a little further up, in fact this place can be as easily and as cheaply fortified as any other port in the U. S. north of New York. There is hardly a part of this narrow river but what can be effectually fortified. A south-south-west course will take you out to sea without any alteration from the Narrows.
The Neck purchased by Mr. Lee, proposed for a dockyard, for $1000, and Mr. Wood supposed the mill and dam to cost $4000.
Hand-sawed plank at Wiscasset of yellow bark oak, which is considered by the peo- ple of their place inferior to white oak, and at the same time state it to last from 10 to 15 years.
Vessels built at this place cost about $40 a ton, complete for the sea; they are com- posed of yellow bark oak, birch, maple, beech, &c.
Carpenter's wages at $1.33 per day; sometimes merchants are obliged to give that price and find board; board is $3.00.
A glance at the chart of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey of this locality will show how remote is the chance of disastrous floods in this town both because of its elevation and also on account of the breadth of the river and its double debouchure, giving ready access to the sea.
The channel at the Eddy leads through Decker's Narrows-the narrow but deep passage between Folly Point on Davis Island, on which stands the blockhouse of Fort Edgecomb -- and Decker's Point, which is the northern
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The Valley of the Sheepscot
extremity of Westport Island, to an almost landlocked harbor. The little village of Wiscasset nestles among the hills on the far side of the bay.
Here at the Narrows the river, full of eddies and whirlpools, makes a swirl to the left, flowing down Back River to the ocean between the western shore of Westport and the eastern shore of Birch Point, passing through Cowseagan Narrows and Hooper's Narrows, which lie between Cushman's Point, Berry Island, and Westport, on its way to the broader waters of Montsweag Bay, Hockomock, and Knubble Bay until it winds back through Little Sheepscot River and Goose Rock Passage into the lower Sheepscot Bay, entirely circumnavigating the island of Westport in its return to the sea, as it drains the Sheepscot Valley.
The sky-line of Wiscasset Harbor is broken by hills, and its shore line is indented by coves. Taken from north to south along the western shore of the Sheepscot River they are: Mill Cove, called in the early deeds, Mill Crick, which indents the western side of Clark's Point; Brick Yard Cove; Joppa Cove at the railroad station; Bradbury's Cove-named for Josiah Bradbury, an early settler-which indentation begins west of the point at the post-office and in former years extended as far as the fence which now bounds the land of Carroll T. Berry. At that time there was a shipyard lo- cated in this cove at which Jacob Woodman used to work as master builder. The creek was later filled in, so that now neither the bridge which spanned it, nor the cove, remains. Next south of Bradbury's Cove is Pottle's Cove- named for Azariah Pottle-which extends as far as Birch Point; then Hil- ton's Cove; Boom Cove and Cushman's Cove, and further down Back River is Frenchman's Cove.
On the eastern side of the river indenting the Edgecomb shore are Hodge's Cove and Cod Cove over which a highway bridge now crosses. Trask Cove at Folly Bar completes the list of harbor coves.
Clark's Point, formerly called Kane's Point for Mr. Kane, a very early resident who settled there more than two centuries ago, forms the upper end of Wiscasset Harbor. Here at Sheepscot Narrows the railroad bridge crosses the river from Moose Point on the western side to Flying Point on the eastern or Newcastle side. The name of Flying Point was given it be- cause it was the primitive shooting ground for wild sea-fowl on the wing in their passage to Sheepscot ponds and marshes beyond.
Above this bridge is the group of three islands belonging to Newcastle and known as the Burnt Islands: Weir's, Leeman's, and Cunningham's, so
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
called because the early settlers on the Town Neck at Sheepscot Farms burned them over, two hundred and fifty acres, in order to provide pasture lands for their cattle and sheep.
In Wiscasset Harbor, about two-thirds the distance between Whaleship Wharf and Fort Point, a wonderful echo can be heard. Miss Mary Amory, who lived near the old fort on Davis Island, stated that on a clear night she often heard the echo of a song so distinctly that not only syllables but the words themselves were audible. This echo has, under favorable weather conditions, repeated eighteen syllables.
On Mill Brook, a tidal cove in the northwestern part of the town, is the site of the old Kincaide mill, now barely discernible. Toward the mouth of this creek, which is crossed by the old Sheepscot road and the new Alna road, could be seen, until very recent years, the picturesque ruins of an old tide-mill and dam which crossed Polly Clark Brook.
The top of Clark's Point (formerly Kane's Point) is a vantage-ground from which the view of the surrounding country is a panorama extensive and enchanting, revealing, as it does, on a clear day, the entire route ex- plored by our first white visitors, De Monts and Champlain, when they sailed up the main river from the sea in their little patache to the harbor entrance, the place under Cushman's Mountain where they held conference with the sagamore Manthoumerer and his braves, as well as the inland course through which they were guided by two Indians down Back River to the Hockomock, Hell Gate, and the Sasanoa on their way to the Kennebec River.
Clark's Point commands such a comprehensive view of the region round about that it was formerly a station for the United States Coast Survey.
A bridge, five-eighths of a mile in length, spans the harbor from the cen- ter of Wiscasset, the erstwhile town landing, to Davis Island.
Goose Island, the picturesque islet which has now severed all land con- nection, must have been, in a geological yesterday, a part of Davis Island but has become separated from it by years of erosion caused by the continual ebb and flow of the tides. It was on Goose Island that Indian remains were found when the fill for the railroad bridge was excavated from its banks.
Groves' Island, named for its original owner, William Groves, in the first division of Wiscasset lands, has been put to many uses. This islet was completely surrounded by water before the railroad was built and a land approach could only be made at low tide. At low water cows were wont to
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cross the bare flats to the island and remain over one tide, feeding upon the grass that grew so luxuriantly upon its surface; gypsies camped there; the Wiscasset artillery went there for target practice; there, too, the boys, in swimming at the town landing below the old tallow chandler's shop, would swim across at high water to rest on its shore; there, also, several discarded coasting vessels rotted into a watery grave. Many years after it was filled in by the railroad it was bought by Alvin F. Sortwell and bath houses erected. It has borne various names such as Cow Island, Blunt's Island, Hubbard's Island, Railroad Island, and Sortwell's Island.
The islands in the lower part of the harbor are: Berry Island; Ellen's Isle, named by its owner, John Amory, for his wife and his mother, both of whom were called by that name (though neither bore it); and Seal Rock, named from the number of harbor seals which basked and barked on its shore at low tide, when they congregated and were stranded there.
In Back River there are two islands: Oak, off Chewonki Neck; and Pine, off Bluff Head. Ebenezer Greenleaf, an early settler, lived on Oak Island and in his time a few Wawenock Indians were left there. From these na- tives he gathered most of the traditions of the tribe now vanished, which have come down to us through his friend, Stephen Parsons.
The Sheepscot region with an abundance of game in its extensive forests, wild fowl in the fresh and salt marshes; the inexhaustible spring run of salmon, shad, and alewives, and the presence of smelts, bass and oysters in her streams; the wealth of water power for mill sites and accessibility to the sea, combined to make this region invaluable to the pioneers both for food products and industries.
Folly or Davis Island
It has already been stated that existing records show that one George Davie, the Englishman who settled here in Wiscasset in the seventeenth century, took from the Indian sagamores deeds of lands on both sides of the Sheepscot River and bay including the island which many years afterwards came into the possession of Moses Davis, also the island now known as Westport but anciently called Jeremy Squam-a name which many regret has not been perpetuated as its corporate name. George Davie and his family and all the other settlers at Sheepscot, as this region was then called, were driven off during the Indian wars of his day and by the close of the seven- teenth century this whole section of Maine was without white inhabitants.
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
Between 1720 and 1730 resettlement here was undertaken, and the heirs of George Davie, some of whom resided at or near Portsmouth, New Hampshire, found it to their advantage to dispose of a part of their inheri- tance in the lands here which had been held and claimed by their ancestor under the deeds from the Indian sagamores. Among those becoming inter- ested in these lands were William Pepperrell of Kittery, John Frost of Newcastle, New Hampshire, Samuel Doggett of Marshfield, Massachu- setts, and Job Lewis, Thomas Boylston, Samuel Waldo, and Joseph and Thomas Hubbard, all of Boston. Upon the organization of their company for concerted management of their interests here Job Lewis appeared as owner of one-eighth part of the lands so held, he having begun to acquire such interest as early as 1728.
In 1767 Lewis appears to have owned three lots containing one hundred acres each, of the first division by the Wiscasset Company on the easterly side of Wiscasset Bay, eight lots of one hundred acres each, of the second division by said company, on the easterly side of Wiscasset Bay, eight lots of one hundred acres each of the third division by said company on said easterly side of Wiscasset Bay, two lots of one hundred acres each on the division by said company on Jeremy Squam Island.
A mortgage given by Job Lewis's daughter, Hannah Waterhouse, also covered several lots in what we so often hear called the marshes, for to the early settlers the marsh or thatch beds, yielding their annual crops for the sustenance of cattle, were of particular value. But that mortgage did not attach to the little island which in the days of Job Lewis's holdings here was called Folly Island because
the earliest settler there erected a castellated house leaving the building incomplete in the middle of the thick forests fronting the river's mouth and standing as a monument of the extravagance and folly of the man who undertook to build what he was unable to finish.
Lewis is identified with that building and with the island by the name, "Lewis's Folly," appearing on one of the rare old manuscript maps of that side of the river. It is probable that the completion of the island home must have been interrupted by Lewis's death, which occurred soon after the treaty with the Indians, immediately following which he may have been encour- aged to begin its construction, for he, with his extensive holdings of lands in the neighborhood, must have had visions of a future development which
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must bring to him benefits which were in his day unrealized. Other men of foresight had been attracted to this region, and Lewis must have come into neighborly acquaintance with the fearless and energetic young William Vaughan of Damariscotta, the noted proprietor of lands and mills and fish- ing and water privileges at that place and of the fisheries at Matinicus, in whose fertile brain originated the plan, so successfully consummated, of the capture of Louisburg, that stronghold of the French in North America.
Twenty years after the death of Job Lewis, or on April 12, 1770, there came to the island Moses Davis, then aged twenty-seven years, with his young wife, Sarah Rolfe. There they appear to have squatted, and in the course of open and notorious occupancy and improvement thereof during many years they gained good title thereto.
Thus has been traced the origin of the name "Folly Island." That of the bridge is found in an entry in Moses Davis's diary: "1773 Thursday, April 8. Made Bridge across the Folly Bar. Had a number to help me."
The original house built by Moses Davis in 1770 is still standing. It is the oldest house in Edgecomb and the first frame house built in town. It faces the mouth of the river and is near the old fort. It descended to Moses Davis, Jr., to his son, Lincoln Davis, and is now the property of Moses C. Davis.
The Amory house, which is situated between the Davis house and the blockhouse, was built in 1838 by David Jackins, Jr., and used by him for a boarding house for the Edgecomb steam mill business which he started.
The Edgecomb steam mill was floated across the river to the shore of the mainland at the Eddy and placed opposite the so-called Marie Antoinette house, where it is still in use as the North Edgecomb post-office.
Prof. Horace Henderson, a native of Wiscasset, connected with the Pawling School, at Pawling, New York, has for a number of years had a summer home on Davis Island.
Edgecomb
On the eastern shore of the Sheepscot River opposite Wiscasset, lie the ancient and picturesque granite hills of the township of Edgecomb, to which protecting ridge Wiscasset is indebted for the defence of its harbor during the War of 1812.
In the year 1652, a neck of land lying between the Damariscotta and Sheepscot Rivers, beginning at Sheepscot Falls and running to a freshet
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
called by the English "Oven's Mouth"2 (subsequently known as Mason and Jewett's Neck, embracing the entire town of Edgecomb), was conveyed to John Mason by the Indian sagamores Robinhood and Dick Swash, and recorded at Pemaquid.
The sagamores were accustomed to indorse the conveyances of the san- nups, or common tribesmen, and such examples appear in the above deed as well as in the deeds to John Brown and Walter Phillips.
Edgecomb was first settled in 1774 by Samuel Trask3 and others who took up lands on Mason and Jewett's Neck and established their claims by possession in which they remained undisturbed for ten years. Then their title was challenged by a group of adventurers from Boston, pretending to hold an Indian deed of this tract from native sagamores. At this juncture a Boston man, a magnanimous member of the Bar, came to their assistance and defended the original claimants against the encroachments of these pre- tenders. As this lawyer refused to accept either a retainer or fee for his services, the planters, in a burst of gratitude, to commemorate his altruism called their plantation Freetown; and this was the name it bore until incor- porated, March 5, 1774, by the General Court, which bestowed upon it the name of Edgecomb in honor of Lord Edgecomb, the friend of the Ameri- can colonies. It formerly included all of Jeremy Squam Island except a small portion of the upper end which belonged to the town of Wiscasset, and the Proprietors obliged the settlers to purchase from them.
2. Aponeg was the early Indian name applied to at least a part of the Sheepscot River and may have originated in the Oven's Mouth. Different forms of this name appear as Abonegog and Abon- negog in the Indian letter received July 1, 1677. (Maine Historical Collections, Series II, I, 277; Massachusetts Archives, Vol. 30:242.)
Obonegog River. Deeds of Clark to Frost, 1720, land near Wiscasset: "Wichcasseck Bay . Sheepsgut Narrows, from thence to the head of Obonegog River" etc. (York Deeds, X:156.)
Aboneisg. "Witt to Frost [1719?], land at Wichcasseck Bay-Mount Swege Bay, Sheepsgut Narrows . .. Marsh at ye head of ye Oven Mouth and from thence to ye head of Aboneisg River south and from thence to ye burnt head on ye long narrows of Sheepsgut river, going around to Wichcasseck Bay." (York Deeds, X:156)
Since the head of Aboneisg River is described as to the south, this must be the long inside bay of Back River, lying in Boothbay, which discharges by the narrow opening still called the Oven's Mouth.
In Abnaki Indian Abanin is bread (Rasles), and his word for an "oven" is Abannchangan (the ch hard, like abann'kangan). Clearly this is only the English word "oven," adopted by the natives, who had no ovens. The English probably took over the word, unchanged, from the Indians, ex- cept by putting in the possessive e and adding a place, ending-Abonegog-Oven-his-place. Aponeg would be the same-p instead of b and -neg, or -neag, ending equivalent to -cook .- F. H. Eckstorm.
3. The original house of Samuel Trask is still standing on the middle road from Edgecomb to Newcastle. It is of Cape Cod type, one story and a half, with a slanting roof. (Statement of F. M. Trask.)
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At the beginning of the nineteenth century, this tract being involved in the Toppan claim, land troubles broke out afresh. Difficulties regarding squatters' rights arose, and the Edgecomb militia was drafted to enforce orders of the Court.
The town was included in the Resolve of February 25, 1813, for quieting the squatters, lots were surveyed, and deeds given to the settlers by Judge Jeremiah Bailey and Benjamin Orr, the commissioners appointed for that purpose. By these deeds the land was claimed by the Commonwealth, who quitclaimed its right to the same for 131/2 cents per acre.
The highest hill in the township of Edgecomb is due west from the northern indentation of Salt Marsh Cove and is locally known as "Bill John Williams hill," and is 295 feet in altitude. Its crest is forested with virgin pine called the King's Woods, for tradition says that in the time of King George III these tall trees were marked with the broad arrow, which re- served them as masts for the Royal Navy. It is held, that with the eyes of Argus, these marks can still be found.
It is more likely, however, that these trees have not been cut on account of the difficulty of landing the timber at this place. The King's Woods are a sea-mark for vessels all along the coast and are visible for many miles off shore.
The view from the summit of this hill is extensive and can be surpassed nowhere on this coast, commanding as it does a wide expanse of open sea from Small Point to White Head including Monhegan, Seguin, Pemaquid and all the off-shore islands. The view inland is equally enchanting: one can see mile upon mile of the territory called the "County of Cornwall" under the Duke of York, as well as a large portion of the state. The coast survey once erected a tower on the summit of this hill.
Another sightly hill in Edgecomb is that formerly known as Jason Light's, now called Mount Hunger. This hill is 280 feet in altitude and also commands an exceptionally fine panorama.
The so-called mica mine, once called "glimmer," is just south of Mount Hunger. About fifty years ago an attempt was made to exploit this mine but it was a stock-jobbing scheme which originated in Auburn, Maine, to sell shares in the company. There was mica in small pockets but not enough to be of any commercial importance.
The Rosicrucian Spring was another enterprise which was doomed to fail- ure. This water, which stood a high test as to purity, was bottled and shipped
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
to Boston where it had a ready sale but when the demand exceeded the sup- ply it was said that wells in the vicinity were used to supplement the insuffi- cient output of the spring, and the substitution being discovered, the orders were cancelled.
A granite quarry at the southern end of Edgecomb, from which Quarry Point takes its name, was in operation in the last century. Much of the stone used in buildings in this vicinity came from that place, and also the stone for the Subtreasury building in New York City was supplied from the Edgecomb quarry. It was also shipped to New Orleans where it was used for the construction of large warehouses. This quarry was located so near to the river that a derrick used to raise the blocks from the pit could also load them on to the scows for transportation .*
The year after Edgecomb's incorporation Moses Davis was its first repre- sentative to the Provincial Congress. He was also a member of the conven- tion by which Massachusetts ratified the Constitution of the United States. He was a justice of the peace, a historian of no mean ability-his diary being an authority on the early doings of the town; and a master builder who con- structed many of the earliest homes and churches. His diary indicates that when a certain religious society was delinquent in its payment for work on the church Moses Davis attached the schooner of the ruling elder to pay for the meeting-house.
The Congregational Society was formed in 1783, and for a time was ministered to by Mr. Pickles, but the Rev. Benjamin Chapman, their first settled pastor, began his work in 1801 and died three years later. He was succeeded by Rev. Samuel Sewall in 1807.
The Freewill Baptist denomination was formed in 1801; Timothy Cun- ningham was ordained a ruling elder in 1804 by Rev. Benjamin Randall, its founder. Cunningham preached extensively but received no other ordi- nation. He lived until 1836 and died an octogenarian.
About the year 1800, Stephen Parsons moved from Westport to Parsons Creek, built a house and grist-mill; he also had the only carding mill in the town. He was the town's first representative to the legislature after the sep- aration of Maine from Massachusetts.
Other noted townsmen have been: Admiral John Merry, Rufus Sewall,
4. Professor Jackson estimated that there were one hundred million tons of granite all above high-water mark and within the compass of thirty-three acres, and described it as dark-colored granite gneiss consisting of black mica, quartz, and feldspar.
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Isaac Poole, Ebenezer Chase, and the families of Clifford, Burnham, Cun- ningham, Cushman, Gove, Huff, Hutchins, Dodge, Matthews, Sherman, Haggett, Patterson, Baker, Williams, Webber, Carlisle, Preble, Moore, Greenough, Greenleaf, who came from Westport, and the Pinkham family who came from Boothbay.
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